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Ultrasound reveals a possible role of SARS‐CoV‐2 in acute testicular infection

A single-center study from Wuhan in China presents ultrasound imaging evidence supporting the notion that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can cause infection of the testis or epididymis – and put patients at risk for further complications. The paper can be found in the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine.

15 Nov 2020

SARS-CoV-2 immunity may last over six months through antibody evolution and B cell memory

With the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic infecting over 52.7 million people around the world, and killing over 1.2 million, a large amount of research has tried to better understand immune responses against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the pathogen that causes COVID-19.

15 Nov 2020

Ultrafast laser study may lead to new, less-expensive industrial catalysts

Arizona State University's Scott Sayres and his team have recently published an ultrafast laser study on uncharged iron oxide clusters, which could ultimately lead to the development of new and less-expensive industrial catalysts.

11 Nov 2020

COVID-19 treatments for people with early infection should be prioritized

COVID-19 treatments for people with early infection are needed urgently, according to a JAMA Viewpoint article by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., and colleagues.

11 Nov 2020

How SARS-CoV-2 blocks immune response

An international research team has confirmed the mechanism by which the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Their article titled, “SARS-CoV-2 Orf6 hijacks Nup98 to block STAT nuclear import and antagonize interferon signaling,” is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

11 Nov 2020

UVA develops new method to understand how HIV begins the infection process

Scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have developed a method to understand how HIV and other viruses first begin to infect our cells, and that could help us prevent COVID-19 and other diseases.

10 Nov 2020

Scientists observe GABAA receptors and their organization on synaptic membrane

Synapses are specialized devices where learning and memory occur. The efficient transmission of synaptic signals relies on the delicate structure and complex molecular composition of the synapses. However, the small size (several hundred nanometers in diameter) and heterogeneous nature of the synapses pose significant challenges in direct observation of the molecules inside synapses.

10 Nov 2020

Study opens a new avenue for prophylactic anti-malarial strategies

A new study led by Maria Manuel Mota, group leader at Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM; Portugal), now shows that malaria parasites secrete the protein EXP2 that is required for their entry into hepatocytes.

6 Nov 2020

Case study reports prolonged infectious SARS-CoV-2 shedding from an asymptomatic leukemia patient

The majority of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 appear to actively shed infectious virus for about 8 days, but there is a wide range of variability from person to person.

4 Nov 2020

An analysis of genetic diversity of D614G mutation in SARS-CoV-2

A new study published in the preprint server bioRxiv in November 2020 reports that the effect of the mutation is minimal, in terms of pathogenicity or altered response to neutralizing antibodies elicited against the native virus strain.

4 Nov 2020

D614G mutation enhances stability of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

A new study, published on the preprint server bioRxiv in November 2020 by researchers at the Indian Institute of Science, has explored this issue further. The researchers have found that this mutation is associated with structural and energetic changes that cause this spike variant to become more available during infection, thus rendering the associated strain more infective.

4 Nov 2020

Synthetic antibody may prevent coronavirus from infecting human cells

By screening hundreds of synthetic antibodies, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and EMBL Hamburg in Germany have identified an antibody that may prevent the new coronavirus from infecting human cells.

4 Nov 2020

16 new lineages of SARS-CoV-2 emerge in South Africa despite lockdown

Published in a recent medRxiv* paper, researchers from South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Brazil found that these mutations in SARS-CoV-2 lineages are localized to South Africa. These unique strains, not found elsewhere in the world, are thought to have contributed around 42% to the country's total infection rate.

3 Nov 2020

Exposure to environmental immunotoxicants may worsen outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection

A team of researchers recently carried out a study in Denmark in which they determined the plasma PFAS concentrations in individuals with a confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

2 Nov 2020

Research shows how remdesivir inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication

In a recent bioRxiv preprint, a research team from Germany, Goran Kokic et al. study the molecular mechanism of remdesivir-induced stalling of RdRp - using synthetic RNA chemistry, biochemistry, and cryo-electron microscopy.

2 Nov 2020

New method could help increase effectiveness of vaccines against coronavirus

A University at Buffalo-led research team has discovered a technique that could help increase the effectiveness of vaccines against the novel coronavirus, the virus that causes COVID-19.

29 Oct 2020

Researchers develop guidelines to standardize performance tests for neural interfaces

How can scientists measure and define the performance of neural electrodes if there are no uniform standards? Freiburg microsystems engineer Dr. Maria Asplund together with Dr. Christian Böhler and Prof. Dr. Thomas Stieglitz, as well as Prof. Dr. Luciano Fadiga and Dr. Stefano Carli from the Italian Institute of Technology at the University of Ferrara, Italy, have developed guidelines to standardize the testing of the performance of electrodes for neural interfaces and bioelectronic systems.

29 Oct 2020

Scientists compare ACE2 interaction with SARS-CoV-2 across species

Like other pathogenic coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 crossed the species barrier to cause human disease. This fact motivated the current study, published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in October 2020, which explores the way coronaviruses engage their host cell receptors in a range of animals.

28 Oct 2020

Structure and mechanisms of ribosomal frameshifting during SARS-CoV-2 translation

The structure of a 3’ stimulatory pseudoknot in the viral genome or by itself has been proposed recently. Researchers report the structure and mechanisms of mammalian ribosomes during translation of the -1 frameshifting of the SARS-CoV-2 viral genome in a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv.

28 Oct 2020

DNase coated melanin-like nanospheres for sepsis treatment in severe COVID

As the treatment of severe COVID-19 is very difficult, the researchers from the Korea Research Institute of Biosciences and Biotechnology (KRIBB) suggested that DNase-1 can be utilized to dissolve the neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), hence halting the further progression of COVID-19.

27 Oct 2020